Improving Connectivity; In Northrend and Elsewhere!

[Zarquon]

Greetings,

I am writing this to offer a few polite suggestions based upon this observation; there are few roleplays going on in Northrend save for those happening in Dalaran City. As an avid roleplayer and explorer, I find that a shame as Northrend contains many scenic and beautiful areas, in addition to many oppurtunities for roleplay based on the aftermath of the Lich King's defeat. These suggestions were made in the hope of making Northrend more viable with the least amount of effort:

Firstly, at the southern tip of the Howling Fjord lies this isle named Scalawag Point, which has on it a nice, cozy pirate town or port that could allow for pirate roleplays or the beginning of pirate roleplays within. It could be made more viable for roleplay if:

1a) Currently, it would be hostile to anybody except those who does a certain quest chain that begins with "The Dead Rise!" A possible solution to this would be in making them hostile but prevent them from being aggro'd, as was done in the Catacombs with the Cabal Agents.

1b) Many low levels would be unable to travel to Scalawag Point easily, and hence an OOC portal there would facilitate this greatly.

Secondly, a problem with Northrend Roleplay seems to be the lack of neutral hubs other then Dalaran City and the Argent Tournament Grounds. On the other hand, there are a few possible neutral hubs nonetheless that does not have an OOC portal to and mind prove viable for roleplay should an OOC portal be made there;

2a) K3 in Storm Peaks, a goblin-controlled town that is hence neutral and would allow roleplay to occur there.

2b) Argent Vanguard in Icecrown, which actually might be an interesting spot for roleplay as it is still under attack by the Scourge; although this is curious, it might be explained away as those Scourge who broke away form the Lich King's control after his death and become mindless.

2c) Nesingwary's Expedition in Sholazar Basin, it might also serve to be a RP location in Northrend as a neutral hub for both Horde and Alliance factions to meet IC-ly.

2d) The various Kalu'ak villages scattered around Northrend, unfortunately, these places are slightly more exotic and curious, and hence visiting them IC-ly might be considered impractical.

Thirdly, on the "Beyond" part, I have been thinking of other potential areas for roleplay within Azeroth itself, and these are some of the places that I found in my random explorations:

3a) A place of note that I found was the Ruins of the Scarlet Enclave. Effectively, it is at the place where the Death Knights had their starting quest-line, but it is phased out to everyone else and those Death Knights who completed it. For these people, it is nothing more then absolutely empty ruins with no hostile mobs whatsoever inside it. You can even reach it in Retail by riding through Tyr's Hand or the Noxious Glade. Of note within the ruins of the Scarlet Enclave is this abandoned Town Hall, which still stands with more or less everything intact save for the lack of furnitures inside it. I was searching for a possible headquarter for my character, Craer, and his guild the Eidolon of Demise which is effectively a transnational corporation in the World of Warcraft, and this Town Hall intrigues me as it could be made into a mansion of sorts. It would require little more then some furnitures, perhaps a bed of sorts, followed by an OOC Portal.

3b) Another place of note in the Plaguelands too; Caer Darrow. It is effectively empty of all hostile mobs, and the barracks it has in the centre which leads to Scholomance does have an interior worthy of some evil roleplay. Especially the top of the barracks which opens up into a curious open-air area, with stairs leading up a tower and then subsequently a wall looking down into this open-air area, which would also work well for some interesting roleplays. One that I can think of is an evil meeting or a ritual of sorts. In truth, it is already accesible as the OOC portal allows one to teleport to Scholomance; unfortunately, there isn't a way to get back save for a hearthstone.

Forthly, a distinct issue with Northrend roleplays is the lack of IC reason to be there. However, this does not have to be the case. After all, there are quite a few reasons why people would want to go to Northrend, and these might be:

4a) For anybody wanting to do research on undeads and necromancy, and I know there are quite a few, what better research then those done on a construct risen by the Scourge in Northrend? Or even better, how about breaking into and stealing tomes of necromancy from Scourge necromancers? Remember, with the Lich King dead, there is now a period of anarchy over the Scourge. What better oppurtunities then this?

4b) For those who seeks wealth and the likes, Northrend is a place filled with exotic goods and rare beasts, the skin of which those nobles in Stormwind would pay their weight in gold pieces for. Delicacies like shark meat could be attained too for those bold enough to hunt in the Kvaldir-infested waves of the Frozen Seas. Merchandises never seen before in the mainland of the Eastern Kingdoms or Kalimdor could be attained in Northrend, and with Northrend now cleared of the Lich King's touch, what better oppurtunies are there for those with greed in their hearts to make a bid for wealth?

4c) Even with the Lich King's death, however, many of the threats that roam Northrend still exists if only diminished. The Scourge, freed of the Lich King's will, now has a vast majority of them roaming the snowy plains, throwing themselves without care nor thought against the forces of civilization. Even with the new Lich King's ascension to prevent the Scourge from running wildly, it can be envisioned that the new Lich King would be incapable of preventing -all- of the Scourge from going mindless, and hence the threat of the Scourge would probably still remain. Those of the Holy Light, the courageous and pure, would probably be asked to aid in keeping the lands save and perhaps one day ushering Northrend into a possible bastion of civilization for said person's respective faction.

4d) Finally, for those who might never IC-ly have went to Northrend before, why should that stop you? The people of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor would probably be cheering down at the news that the Lich King is dead, ushering a new age of oppurtunities and exploration. Merchants who had previously wanted to go to Northrend but feared the Scourge might jump at this oppurtunity, explorers who previously wanted to go but feared the Scourge might jump at this oppurtunity, why, even pirates or assassins that previously wanted to keep themselves to more familiar, comfort areas might decide to explore this "New World" which is now ostensibly safe!

Most of these suggestions are made with the intentions to facilitate roleplay at the least amount of effort, mainly because I think that places falling into disuse is a distinct possibility and placing large amounts of effort into a specific place only to have it abandoned a week or a month later would be a shame. Hence, most of these suggestions are really just, "There's this place that is already made for you that you can roleplay in, it just needs an OOC portal for people to reach it easily." A problem with Northrend roleplays, after all, is the OOC levels of character and the usual lack of gears capable of dealing with the hostiles there.

If anyone has any other suggestions to expound onto these, do feel free to add them too; these are just my two silver pieces, in the name of expanding roleplay to Northrend! Thank you very much if you took the time to read this, and have a nice day!

Yours sincerely,
Zarquon

[Rosencrat]

Just to comment briefly on this post: Cabal Agents have not been altered. They are naturaly non-aggro. To my knowledge there is no way to make a hostile mob peaceful, short of simply phaseing the town itself.

[Jurkey]

... You can just change the faction of the mob, I believe?

[Nostra]

Not on Trinity I believe, they would have to make a custom NPC with the new faction and then replace all the old NPCs.

[Jurkey]

It seems that Trinity has alot of issues...

[Wuvvums]

Yes, but before trinity we used to have server crashes on a daily basis. That's why we changed to trinity.

[Delta]

Yep, it was either stability or versatility. Not that Trinity isn't versatile, so it was a clearly better option at the time.

You can get to Caer Darrow via the Scholomance portal, by the way!

I've always agreed that we need some RP portals in Northrend.

[FlyingSquirrel]

If you want RP in Northrend so badly, make a storyline. If people agree with you, then they'll join. The RP wanted in Northrend will vibrate through the population of your storyline.

[Zarquon]

@Rosencrat: currently, there is a "The Damned" in the Catacombs. It is naturally aggroable and extremely deadly as a hostile mob in Icecrown Catacombs. Kretol managed to make it non-aggroable unless someone attacks it. It seems that it could be made friendly, but would disappear after a period of time, hence the necessity in simply making it a non-aggroable hostile. I am uncertain about this, however, due to my inadequate knowledge in the technicalities of the server.

@Danalthar: you misunderstood the objective of this post. The post might be created with the intentions of promoting roleplay to Northrend, but it is mainly on improving connectivity to Northrend. Yes, I can make an event, ask people to go, and hope that that event would spark off future roleplays. On the other hand, I could simply ask for the ability for "people to go" in the first place, which is unfortunately lacking due to OOC reasons, levels, lack of flying mount, or rising property taxes. Improving accessibility is a good way to promote roleplay with the least amount of effort in my opinion; allowing people to easily go to Northrend could go a long way in making it -viable- for roleplay. I am incapable of giving precise numbers or such, but to my humble knowledge there are only three ways of going to Northrend through the OOC portal; through Dalaran, through the Pirate Ship (2), and finally through the Circle of Blood arena. The essence of my post simply asks to expand upon this and the creation of portals to more possible roleplay areas in Northrend, hence effectively promoting roleplay in Northrend.

We as a race are sometimes too willing to utilise overt means and effort to get less yield then we expect, becoming disappointed or the likes. This is simply a small attempt and a small step to improve the possibilities and viability of roleplays in Northrend. Perhaps we should be more hesitant to use a sledgehammer to smash open a door when we could have easily used a lockpick instead.

And then again, there is no such thing as overkill. Still. . .

[Nostra]

Something like this could be good for Outland too, we never really see RP in either of the other continents and while people occasionally complain and a few rare times have tried to do events there, I doubt we'll ever see much change in that as it is. But maybe what Zarquon suggested might encourage players, as accessability is the first step to engage people, next we just need storylines to take us there.

But then again, it could be a lot of work for little effect, not a lot of players go out of the hotspots, so why put in the effort if it won't be used often? Well, the few people who would use it might lure more along, or at least they would enjoy the RP themselves.

Yes, but before trinity we used to have server crashes on a daily basis. That's why we changed to trinity.

No, I don't think we've ever had daily crashes on CotH, except when something goes wrong in a update or something similar. But we had that just the other week, and it really wasn't that bad then either. Not to say Trinity is bad, it has its advantages, and so did ArcEmu.

[Anski]

We can change the faction of NPCs to friendly, nubs. d